Possible Listeria Contamination Leads To Recalls In 25 States

Fears of possible listeria contamination are forcing grocery stores in 25 states to pull refrigerated foods from shelves. Taylor Farms of Jessup, Md., is recalling products that include salad kits with packets of dressing due to concerns of a possible contamination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

NPR's Jim Hawk filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"Taylor Farms is recalling items including broccoli salad and coleslaw sold across 25 Eastern and Southern states because they contain ingredients that may be contaminated with listeria.

"The company says the packaged food includes ingredients recalled earlier this week by a firm in Beaverton, Ore. The food was sold at deli counters in supermarket chains including Price Chopper, Shaw's, Shoprite, Acme Markets, Stop & Shop and others.

"Separately, grocers Winn-Dixie and Giant Food say they have removed the items from their stores and are offering customers refunds.

"Listeria can lead to miscarriages in pregnant women and serious illness for those with weakened immune systems. So far, there have been no reports of illnesses."

The Oregon company Jim mentions is Reser's Fine Foods — you can find a list of the products in its recall at the FDA's site.

"Reser's has recalled 109,000 cases of refrigerated, ready-to-eat items that were distributed across the U.S. and Canada because they may contain the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium," the AP reports.